We lived in Stoneybatter and loved our local pubs. We have put together a full list of our favorite pubs in Dublin. If you want a good pint of Guinness, look no further than the list below. We do not have any pictures of the pubs so you will just have to go and explore yourself!

We've ranked the Stoneybatter pubs, but the Temple Bar area has so much going on that it will be hard to rank those.

Stoneybatter Neighborhood (Luas Stop: Smithfield)

1. J. Walsh & Co - quickly became our favorite spot, great Guinness
2. The Belfry - go here for a gin and tonic, and they make pizza on the patio
3. L. Mulligan Grocer - great selection of craft beers, great food
4. The Cobblestone - can usually find a good trad session going on.
5. The Glimmer Man - Good space, outdoor beer garden

Once you complete the Stoneybatter crawl, walk 10 minutes southeast to:

The Brazen Head - oldest pub in Dublin!

From here, a 10-minute walk straight east along the Liffey will get you to Temple Bar.

Temple Bar Neighborhood (Luas Stop: Jervis)

Recommended:
The Stag's Head - We started going here often.  Nice place: dark, cozy, and great Guinness
Kehoe's - just go, great Guinness
The Dawson Lounge - tiniest pub in Dublin, another one of our favorites

Popular:
The Temple Bar - The "standard Dublin tourist destination", but also highly avoided by the locals.
The Long Hall - very long and very cozy

Further Southeast:
Grogan's - grandma's basement in the best way - get a toastie :)
McDaid's - small and cozy
O'Donoghue's - great alley, lots of snugs
Toner's - HUGE beer garden.  Fun to watch Rugby, optimal if you're there for the Six Nations Rugby Tournament matches.

Food Suggestions:
1. The Port House (William Street) - Tapas and Wine, great for groups near The Temple Bar, our favorite place
2. Mad Egg (Jervis Stop along Luas) - Awesome Chicken Sandwiches and Chips just north of Temple Bar (across the liffey)
3. The Ramen Bar (William Street) - Great Ramen near The Temple Bar
4. Il Vicoletto - Fine Italian in Temple Bar area
5. Hanley's Cornish Pasties - Grab'n Go Pasties near The Temple Bar (a must!)

Drinks Honorable Mention:
DAY TOUR (any order): Jameson Distillery - Guinness Storehouse - Teeling Distillery

Jameson, of course, is the most popular Irish Whiskey.  The Distillery is very centrally located and steps from the Smithfield stop on the Luas.  Jameson is more of a tourist destination (understandably).

The Guinness Tour is extremely popular.  After the tour, you get to go up to the top of the Guinness Storehouse, the 7th floor, and get a panoramic view of Dublin.  You'll also have the BEST pint of Guinness you'll ever have.  Recommended tourist attraction.

Teeling Distillery is slightly off the beaten path, and therefore doesn't get much recognition in my opinion.  They have the best whiskey in Dublin, and the Distillery is a pretty cool place.  If you're into nice Whiskey, I'd choose this spot over Jameson.

​Mix in a few pubs along the way and this would be an awesome day.

CLEAR YOUR SATURDAY PLANS.

We hit the Bermondsey Beer Mile as part of our epic 5-day trip through Brussels, Bruges and London – which you can read about here.
 
The Bermondsey Beer Mile is an unofficial crawl of breweries that’s tucked under a stretch of railway arches, and spans about 2 miles long. There are more breweries than there is time in a day, so I am just going to highlight the ones we stopped at. Of course, this is a choose your own adventure sort of thing so do not take this guide too seriously. I suggest going where the wind blows. Something to note, these breweries are only open on Saturday’s, so plan your trip accordingly.
 
However, we do suggest starting your day at the Maltby Street Market to lay down a nice layer of food before you completely destroy your stomach on alcohol, a solid base. This is probably the best food market in London, so take your time and eat everything you can. The pork gyozas are something I still think about it…
 
Since we did not bring our camera with on this beer fueled walk, here are some pictures from our phones, enjoy :)
 
Southwark Brewing Company > Hawkes Cidery and Taproom > Anspach & Hobday > Moor Beer Co Vaults & Taproom > Brew by Numbers > Affinity Brewing Company > EeBria Tap > Fourpure Brewing Co.

Southwark Brewing Company – 3 min walk

Hawkes Cidery and Taproom – 3 min walk

Anspach & Hobday – 1 min walk

Moor Beer Co Vaults & Taproom – 3 min walk

Brew by Numbers – 30 second walk

Quick selfie - location unknown.

Affinity Brewing Company – 16 min walk

EeBria Tap – 1 min walk

Fourpure Brewing Co – 10 min walk.
 
This is the point where we had to call it quits. It was an absolutely awesome day outside and we had so much fun popping in and out of the railroad arches to sample all of the great beer London has to offer. 10/10 would do again.
 
We definitely did not hit all of the stops – here is an unofficial guide with all of the breweries listed - https://www.bermondsey-beer-mile.co.uk

Day 1 (Thursday):
Unfortunately, this day was cancelled due to high winds that docked the ferry boats.  

Day 2 (Friday):
We had been staying on the island of Koufonisia, so we took the ferry from Koufonisia to Naxos and then Naxos to Santorini. Each ferry was about 2 hours. It would not have been so bad, but ferries had been cancelled the previous two days due to high wind, so EVERYONE was on the ferry to Santorini. When we docked, we ended up having to wait almost two hours before our taxi could make it down the switchback road to the port. To say traffic was backed up would be an understatement. Luckily, we had a cooler of cold beer and decided to just enjoy the sunshine while waiting for our ride up the hill. Santorini does have an airport which is what we used on our return flight back to Dublin (Santorini to Athens and Athens to Dublin).

We made it to our house at Albus Villas at about 5:30pm. The host was there to greet us and show us around. They even had complimentary wine for us to try. We immediately jumped into the pool to unwind after our long day of ferries and delays. We then got ready for the evening and walked to Santo Wines. This place has an unbeatable sunset view of the caldera. We ordered a flight of wine with 16 options (!!!!) to share and a cheese plate. We really enjoyed trying all of the different options. We had a great table, first row, right on the glass.  We highly recommend going to Santo Wines for sunset!

We took a taxi to Fira to eat at Cacio e Pepe for some good ole Italian, it did not disappoint. We even considered eating here again the following night.  At this point, we were too tired to figure out the bus system, so we took another taxi back to our villa.

Day 3 (Saturday):
In the morning, breakfast was brought in - everything you could imagine - breakfast pastries, bread, fruit, omelettes. They also had the house stocked with fruit, granola, cereal, milk, yogurt, coffee - anything that you would need. We lounged by the pool all morning and in the early afternoon walked into Pygros to explore. We had a late lunch (with dessert first) at Bruscus Deli - the Baklava was so good. We then explored every street we could find and stopped in at each shop. We took the bus from Pygros to Fira - which was quite the experience. You get on old coach bus and sit down, there is an attendant who will come by and you can pay your fare. These guys were blasting music and you had to basically jump out of a moving bus to get off, however, it was cheap (€1.80 for each leg per person).  At Fira, we had to take another bus to get to Oia. If you do not like cliffs, you may want to get a taxi and request they take the lower road to Oia. We survived the ride and started to explore the beautiful town. Just get lost. You will find lots of neat places to explore and a great place to watch the sunset. We decided to watch the sunset from a view where we could see the three blue domes.  After the sun goes down, it is great to see Oia all lit up at night. We took the bus back to Fira for dinner (again, not ideal). We really wanted to eat dinner at Salt & Pepper, but they were full (make a booking!), so we ate at Argo. The tomato croquettes were really, really good. We got a crepe somewhere and then took a taxi (we were over the buses) back to the villa. 

Day 4 (Sunday):
Our flight was at 8:20am, so we had a transfer pick us up at 6:30am. It is a short 10 minute drive to the airport, but it was nice to get there early and watch the sunrise from the outdoor patio (after security). The flight from Santorini to Athens was short, about 30 min. We had lots of time to kill before our flight back to Dublin, but it went pretty fast. 

​I know that Santorini is a bucket-list item for some people and while it is very beautiful, it is also very expensive. For me, I would rather spend my time on the smaller islands in the Cyclades that I would argue are more beautiful and not full of tourists. We really did enjoy our time here, but take me back to Koufonisia!

To me a vacation is three things - beach, alcohol, and no obligations!  Of all the places we've been, Koufonisia has been the best island/beach experience we've had. Within two hours of being on the island, we were trying to figure out how we could buy property on this slice of paradise. There is by no means a schedule while on vacation, but we were pretty consistent with our daily routine - 

• At some point wakeup and eat from a breakfast basket that was delivered each morning with different items (fresh fruit, fresh baked bread, fresh eggs, etc.) 
• Walk down to the beach to set up shop for the day and sun bathe and swim for a few hours
• Head back to the house for lunch and pack a cooler and games for the afternoon session at the beach
• Head back to the beach and enjoy said beers, dice and frisbee for a few hours
• Head home to clean up for dinner
• Walk into town for a pre-dinner cocktail, dinner, market (gotta restock the supplies and everything here was really reasonably priced)
• Head home for some more games and bed
• Repeat

We fell into this routine, and I asked Derek at one point, "How many days in a row would you have to do this to be sick of it?" I am pretty sure there is no number.

Getting There
So our plan was to spend 1 night in Naxos, 5 nights in Koufonisia and 3 nights in Santorini (check out our Santorini post here!). We woke up early to catch our flight from Dublin to Athens on Ryanair - the flight was less than 4 hours. Once in Athens, we took a small, regional plane on Olympicair to Naxos. We stayed overnight in Naxos at this Airbnb, watched the sunset at Apollo's temple, ate dinner at Nostimon Hellas (get the lamb meatballs!), after dinner ice cream at the Waffle House, got the biggest breakfast pastries at (37.103324, 25.375208) - pretty sure it is a new bakery and Google Maps is not having it, and then took the ferry from Naxos to Koufonisia, which was only an hour. Upon arrival, our host Theodore was waiting to pick us up. We asked him to stop at the market on the way to the house and he was more than accommodating.

The Island
So Koufonisia is technically made up of three small islands - Pano, Kato and Keros, we stayed on Pano. On Kato, there is one small taverna, but pretty sure no one lives there. And Keros is a protected archaeological site. There are about 400 people that live on Pano. There's no shortage of beaches on the island, but the best are Pori and Italida. Other notable features are Gala Beach and The Eye of the Devil. You can walk a trail along the south/east side of the island that takes you from "town" to Pori beach, and back.  We planned to take a boat down to Kato (many great beaches there, as well), but due to weather we stayed on Pano. Most days we just hung out at Pori beach, but one afternoon we were feeling adventurous and walked to all of the beaches and into town for drinks and food.

Accommodation
If you are going to stay on Koufonisia, we recommend staying closer to Pori beach. There are multiple, wonderful beaches, but Pori is phenomenal.  We stayed at My Island Home in Aura. The host, Theodore, is wonderful - so helpful with suggestions and communication was so easy. He picked us up from the port, helped with rebooking our ferry, brought us water, just an overall excellent human being. The house itself is gorgeous with a front porch that cannot be beaten. They offer yoga everyday on the sundeck. You are a 7-minute walk from Pori beach. The only slight inconvenience is that you are about a 25-minute walk to town (there is a lone taxi on the island, happy to help you out with this). We didn't mind the walk, it's just 1 main road and the weather and views are beautiful.  Most accommodations are just on the south side of the island, and Pori beach is on the northeast, but still very close because the island is small.  That being said, you can't go wrong with wherever you decide to stay.

Cocktails
Pretty sure Koufonisia has the best cocktails in all the Cyclades. Every single cocktail at every single bar was so delicious. Cocktails were not cheap - €10, but they were well worth the price. We enjoyed cocktails at - Sorokos, Mylos, Scholio, Finikas, Kalamia, Astrolouloudo and Koyforio. For an island of 400 people there are plenty of bars and restaurants - we came no where close to checking them all out! We were here late September and some places were shutting down for the season :(

Dinner
We had some fun times at dinner once we realised how cheap the food and wine was (€3 for a bottle, a whole bottle!) We enjoyed dinner at Armia Kai Pioto, To Steki Tis Maria, Souvlaki Sti Strouf, Mixalios Grill and Captain Nicholas. More than once we headed for after dinner Gyros at  the takeaway place on the corner - Souvlaki Sti Strouf. We also had the best pistachio ice cream at Phystíki (doesn't open until late - it's a Greek thing).

We are returning to Koufonisia in 2020 - this time for a much longer stay!

This is just a portion of our overall roadtrip across Denmark, Norway, and Scotland, so we are going to break it down by country. Here is the lineup for Scotland:
        Day 1: Glasgow - arrived by Train
        Day 2: Oban
        Day 3: Ben Nevis (stop in Glen Etive)
​        Day 4: Isle of Skye (stop at Glenfinnanen Viadcut)
        Day 5: Isle of Skye
        Day 6: Isle of Skye - Shieldag
        Day 7: Inverness - Grantown-on-Spey
        Day 8: Castles - Aberdeen - Inverbervie
        Day 9: St. Andrews
        Day 10: Edinburgh
        Day 11: Glasgow - fly home

What we packed:
        Checked bag - Camping/hiking gear
        Checked bag - Clothes/toiletries
​        Carry-on bag - Camera backpack
        Carry-on bag - Hiking backpack

Day 1
Total drive time: 0h
Route: Glasgow
Accommodations: Clyde Hostel

We arrived to Glasgow from Liverpool, after attending The Open golf tournament for Saturday's 3rd Round.  Once we arrived to Glasgow we decided to venture out to find a spot to watch the final round of golf.  We found a nearby pub called O'Neills, which had a projector screen with golf on, nothing memorable about the pub itself.  Then we went to dinner at a nice place called The Butchershop, which had excellent food.  The hostel was not a good stay; find something else.

Day 2
Total drive time: 2h 40m
Route: Glasgow - Oban - Benderloch
Accommodations: Seaview Caravan and Camping Park

The day began with picking up a rental car and heading northwest to Oban, a 2.5 hour drive.  A little over halfway, there is a decent place for lunch in Tyndrum called The Real Food Cafe.  Once you arrive in Oban, you can just find a place to park and walk the town.  We began with a tour of the Oban Distillery.  The tour is £10 per person, and is a good deal if you are interested in observing the process.  You get a sample shot at the end of the tour, and you keep the glass it comes in.  In addition, you get a coupon for a discount off any whiskey purchase at their store.  If you plan to visit other distillery's in Scotland, there is a coupon book you can take with you.  Walk the pier for sight-seeing, and find some fresh seafood.  Atop the city is McCaig's Tower, which appears to be the crown of the city.  You can walk to the top of the hill to get there, or just drive.  The views are nice.  We had appetisers at Ee Usk before heading to our campsite for the night. Just north of the city is a nice campground called Seaview Camping Park.  Great staff, great sites, and a walking trail to the beach.

Day 3
Total drive time: 3h
Route: Benderloch - Glen Etive - Fort William 
Accommodations: Glen Nevis Caravan & Camping Park

On our way from Oban to Fort William, we ventured off to the place of the iconic scene from Skyfall.  It is a scenic drive back into the valley. Here is the exact location via Google Maps.

Next, we headed towards the base of Ben Nevis and prepped for the hike to Scotland's highest peak.  This hike is on the easier side (steep, but easy), in fact local athletes run to the top and back down for exercise.  Average-paced hikers can expect this full hike to take about 6 hours; about 3 hours and 45 minutes to reach the top and 2 hours and 15 minutes to get back down.  The first 2 hours of this hike are great, it is somewhat slow and steady inclines with great views, and even a lake.  The latter half of the hike is a steep climb on loose rocks.  No cliffs to deal with, but be mindful of your ankles.  As we approached the top, it became windy and the clouds engulfed us for a moment.  This hike was difficult for us because we were running out of gas from our trip.  There were multiple occasions where we wanted to turn around and go back to the bottom, but it is worth getting to the top, especially if you're there on a clear day.  When we reached the bottom, we went to the Ben Nevis campground to stay for the night.  Here, is where we found out about MIDGES - Scotland's version of a mosquito. They are much smaller and come in larger numbers.  If you plan to camp in the Highlands of Scotland, it is advised that you get some repellent.

Day 4
Total drive time: 3h 30 m
Route: Fort William - Glenfinnanen Viaduct - Portree
Accommodations: Torvaig Caravan & Camp Site

​After camping at the base of Ben Nevis (Ben Nevis Self Catering Park), we drove towards Fort William.  You Harry Potter fans are on your way to the magical bridge.  There IS a parking lot along the road, with a coffee shop.  This is paid parking and allows you to take the 10 minute walk up a small trail and be able to view the bridge.  However, this view is a letdown.  If you head north just a little bit more there is another parking lot with free parking, and you'll get out for a 10-15 minute walk towards the bridge.  If you google images of this bridge, you'll see quite a few angles, but the best one resembles what you see in the movies; back behind the bridge overlooking the valley.  To get here, follow the paved road/trail until you're underneath the bridge.  You'll take a right and still be walking beneath the bridge and see a boggy hill that you can walk through to get the image below.  We didn't see a steam engine roll through but you might!

We used the remainder of the day to continue our travels up to Portree in the Isle of Skye.  Portree serves as a great home-base for exploring the Isle.  We stayed just a few minutes drive north of the city at Torvaig Caravan & Camp Site.  This is a well maintained campsite with great owners.  Showers and laundry available.  

Day 5
Total drive time: 2h
Route: Portree - Fairy Pools - Talisker Distillery - Dunvegan Castle - Portree
Accommodations: Torvaig Caravan & Camp Site

The Old Man of Storr!  Just north of Portree you'll see a place to park for the mile-long hike up the hill towards the vertical rock formations, with the Old Man of Storr being the most notable.  As we approached the base, the wind was so extreme we could hardly stand!  It was unreal.  Something we hadn't experienced before.  You'll likely get here on a better day.  It is an easy trek that just entails a steady incline.

Next we worked our way back towards the Fairy Pools.  This is a small stream coming from hills that has some unique formations built into it, primarily a few spots where the riverbed is shaped like a big round hot tub.  I don't believe anyone gets into the water, but it is a nice, easy walk along the water with the hills surrounding.

Continue to head west towards Dunvegan Castle, which is tucked along the shores of a bay on the western coast of the Isle of Skye.  This castle is very well kepted, and has a great variety of gardens and short walking trails to stroll.  Admission is €12/adult.  Inside the castle you'll some unique artifacts as well.  Overall, we find most castles to be interesting to attend, and this one is worth seeing if you are in the area.

Next, we headed back to Portree for dinner and back to our campsite.

Day 6
Total drive time: 4h 15m
Route: Portree - Quiraing - Fairy Glen - Plockton - Shieldag
Accommodations: Shieldag Camping Area

​Waking up early in Portree, we have just one more place to visit prior to leaving town, and that is the Quiraing area north of Portree.  This can easily be paired with the Old Man of Storr as a day trip.  Park at the base of Quiraing, where you'll likely see other cars parked, or a small coffee shop as an indicator as to where you'll park.  This was one of our favorite short hikes, as it resembles (in our eyes) something out of Lord of The Rings.  The hike is easy, with a small incline and no drop-offs.  The trail will take you back into the hills between the steep foggy peaks as you approach Mordor (if only!).  As you've likely realized by this point, the weather in Scotland changes every 20 minutes, so we experienced some intermittent rain.  This is an extremely unique place that is definitely worth seeing.

Next, we went to the Fairy Glens, which is also efficiently routed had you began with Old Man of Storr, then Quiraing, then Fairy Glens.  These are small, unique landscapes that seem to swirl up like ice cream cones.  There are a few plateaus you can get to the top of, but we remained on the ground and simply walked through a few areas of the glens.  Nothing too dramatic here, but being that you are likely passing through, this is worth a short stop.

Next we depart Isle of Skye to get back to the main island and continue heading towards northern Scotland.  We've picked a spot to camp in Shieldaig along the way, which will serve as a break from the hiking as we continue towards Inverness.  If you want to continue heading northeast towards Inverness, you'll have the option to not detour towards Shieldaig while on your way to Inverness.  On our way to Shieldaig we stopped in Plockton, which is a small town on the shore.  As with all of the shore towns we visited, this was similar in that it is a small town within a bay and has a quiet laid-back culture.  We primarily used these stops as rest areas for breaks from driving.  

Continue to Shieldaig, where you'll find a small quiet town with one bar/restaurant to hang out at for the night.  We stopped here for dinner and had our first Haggis (you gotta try it at some point during your stay in Scotland!).  We left briefly to setup our tent at the campsite, which is an honor system plot of land just above the bar (easily accessed with a 5 minute walk).  We went back to the bar to hang out for the night and mingle with the locals and get a better feel for the culture (and accents!).  

Day 7
Total drive time: 3h 15m
Route: Shieldag - Torridon - Inverness - Grantown-on-Spey
Accommodations: Grantown-on-Spey Caravan Park

​Heading north towards Inverness, we took in the scenery along the way.  Some cool harbours and always a joy to drive anywhere through Scotland.  At our destination, Inverness, we parked the car downtown and walked around for lunch.  We found a paved trail that goes up the canal and comes back on the other side, so we took that little stroll to stretch the legs.  Overall, Inverness didn't have much to offer, but was a stopping point as we trekked further north along the western shore towards the site of the Lochness Monster.  We explored the area, and of course, DID NOT see Nessy :).  But the vibe around this old tale is still going strong.  We stopped at a restaurant that had good reviews, The Dores Inn.  Our food was sub-par, perhaps just an off night or we selected the wrong menu item; we'd still give it another try.

To conclude our day, we headed east towards Grantown-on-Spey to setup camp.  This is at the northern edge of Cairngorms National Park, and was a great spot to stay until we went into the park the following day.

Day 8
Total drive time: 3h 45m
Route: Grantown-on-Spey - Balmoral Castle - Braemar - Aberdeen - Stonehaven - Inverbervie
Accommodations: Inverbervie Caravan Park

Next we went through the Caringorms, exploring multiple castles along the way.  The primary spot to visit is Balmoral Castle, vacation home of the Royal Family!  This was honestly the coolest, most well-kept castle grounds we've ever visited.  They have it all, including the family history, so it is great to experience the life of royalty if only for a few hours.

Continue heading southeast towards the coast and you'll see Dunnottar Castle.  This is one of the true island cliff castles.  We arrived as sunset approached, and we must say the views turned out much better than the pictures.

Day 9
Total drive time: 1h 30m
Route: Inverbervie - St. Andrews
Accommodations: 34 Argyle Street Guest House

​We woke the next day with plans to head to St. Andrews.  The original plan was to get there as early as possible so that Derek could get his name on the list to hopefully play the Old Course that day.  The local advice is that you arrive to the course around 5:30am and get your name on the waiting list and hope that there are cancellations.  We didn't have the ambition to get there by 5:30, so we pushed it off a bit and didn't arrive to the course until 10:30am.  We still put Derek's name down as an alternate in the queue, but did not expect to play.  As time passed, it became more of a possibility, and by 1:30pm, it was certain that I would get to play.  With the 2:20pm tee time, I joined a group of three other players and got to play the Old Course at St. Andrews.  What an experience!  Our day ended up being dedicated towards golf, but we went out for drinks afterwards and explored the town of St. Andrews.

We absolutely loved St. Andrews.  It is hard to describe why, but it just felt so welcoming, we'll go back any chance we get.

St. Andrews also has some history, and we visited the remains of a church just on the south-end of town.

Our B&B was, to this day, the highest quality B&B we've ever stayed at.  5-Star amenities.  The hosts are extremely welcoming, they offer great advice and prepared a delicious breakfast the next day.  When we go back to St. Andrews, we intend to stay with them again.

Day 10
Total drive time: 1h 30m
Route: St. Andrews - Edinburgh
Accommodations: Airbnbwww.airbnb.ie/rooms/14057087

We made our way to Edinburgh with the intentions of enjoying a night out in a larger city. We found our Aibnb and took the bus to the city centre. We walked the Royal Mile and went to Edinburgh Castle. This castle is well worth a visit if it is your first time to the city. You can spend a couple of hours here easily. After the castle, we were wiped. We knew it was the last day of our month long road trip, so we grabbed dinner and headed back to our Airbnb. Dinner was at a lovely Thai place that came from Hugh and Barbara (the owners of 34 Argyle Street in St. Andrews). Chaophraya, has a rooftop eatery and great food!

Day 11
Total drive time: 1h 15m
Route: Edinburgh - Glasgow

Our flight home was out of Glasgow, so we made the short drive from Edinburgh. Before heading to the airport we stopped at The Necropolis and Glasgow Cathedral. The history here is really remarkable and just look at that cathedral!